Tucson, AZ: Titan Missile Museum

Titan Missile Museum, near Tucson, Arizona. July 2019.

There's an allure to visiting Really Big Shit.

Also: Nerdy Stuff.

And: Scary, Apocryphal Places that I only really want to be real in science fiction, and not in real life.

Titan Missile Museum, near Tucson, Arizona. July 2019.

The Titan Missile Museum meets all of the above criteria. Fortunately, there is also levity to be had. For example, I almost bought this kids' lunch sack. I craved it. Nostalgic thoughts of the Jetsons and Robert Heinlein.

Titan Missile Museum, near Tucson, Arizona. July 2019.

And this piece of equipment thrilled me. I have no idea what it is. For some reason it reminds me of Marvin the Martian from the Looney Tunes cartoon.

Titan Missile Museum, near Tucson, Arizona. July 2019.

Which, when I sought the Martian, made me wonder what is the similarity? Dunno. The mind is sometimes inscrutable. But some blasts from that past:

It wasn't too long in the Titan Missile tour when I realized that mostly I just wanted to see:

1. A Really Big Missile, and maybe touch it
2. Flashing buttons, spinning dials, and words like "Top Secret" and "Do Not Touch!" 

Titan Missile Museum, near Tucson, Arizona. July 2019.

The two docents were obviously knowledgeable about the Titan Missile program, but they threw too much content at us at too high a speed. It was like hearing fast-talking news commentators on the broadcast channels, which I find irritating. I began to tune out the docents' spiels pretty quickly, finding looped cables and wheels and other distractions more appealing.

Titan Missile Museum, near Tucson, Arizona. July 2019.

And listen, the Titan Missile Museum is not my first rodeo for this genre of tourist attraction; most times my attention stays focused on what the docent is saying.


You can see an interactive map of the tour here. Below is a copy of the map, but you'll need to go the link in the previous sentence to avail yourself of the interactivity. Source: Titan Missile Museum.

Titan Missile Museum, near Tucson, Arizona. July 2019.

Monsoon clouds convened over the mountains as we emerged from down below.

Titan Missile Museum, near Tucson, Arizona. July 2019.

As always, it unsettles my spirit when there is beauty and serenity in a place of death. Yes, yes, I know, I know: The goal of the Titan Missile program was to prevent mass destruction instead of wreak it. Still, the missile is an agent of destruction. .... And yes, it is immaturity on my part to resist this truth: There is a dark side that exists - always - in nature, in societies, in families, in each of us.

Titan Missile Museum, near Tucson, Arizona. July 2019.

A slide show below of my visit to the Titan Missile Museum:

Rootless Weaponry, Part 2

Mino woman warrior. 

Back here, I noted I wanted a knife.

Yesterday, I set about making that happen. 

Step 1: Identify the qualities I want in a knife
Step 2: Look at knife reviews
Step 3: Choose my knife and order it

 

The qualities I want in a knife

1. I have learned in life that no product will do everything beautifully. There are always compromises, especially if you have a limited budget.
2. In light of the above, it's important to watch out for mission creep. In other words, I must focus on why I want the knife and not get distracted (too much) by other uses. 

My mission: To own and carry an accessible, effective self-defense tool with me on hikes.


So with these tenets in mind, I found a really good analysis of what to look for in a knife at  ... yes ... The Art of Manliness, in this article: How to Choose the Perfect Survival Knife.  It's a well-written, straightforward, common-sense article. The author addressed these qualities cleanly:

• Blade size - Not too long; not too short
• Fixed blade, not folding blade
• Full tang, not partial tang
• Sharp-pointed tip rather than angled, hooked, rounded, or squared off tip
• Single-edged blade rather than double-edged blade
• Solid pommel (the handle bottom) rather than a hooked or rounded pommel

He doesn't address metal materials, serrated v. smooth blade, sheaths, handle grips, etc.

Knife reviews

With these qualities in mind, I searched out specific knife reviews and found this article by Ben Brooks. Mr. Brooks'  review introduced me to the Esee brand which, I subsequently discovered, is way over my budget. So I had to back up and look at knives under $50.

Somehow I ended up over at Amazon and ...


Decided on this

SOG M37-N. Credit: Amazon

The SOG M37-N.  I bought it at $41.xx, which included shipping. 

Good reviews on Amazon.

It has most, but not all of the features I sought:

• Blade size between 4.5 and 5.5 inches (in close quarters, don't need as much range of motion to pull out of sheath, stab, and pull out again, repeat)
• Full tang
• Fixed blade (no fumbling to open knife while being mauled by a bear)
• Sharp-pointed tip (to get to business ASAP in a self-defense situation)
• Single-edged blade rather than double-edged blade, though I'd prefer most of the spine (the non-edge side) to be straighter (can use non-sharp edge to "baton," a bit of mission creep here)
• Solid pommel, aka butt (to use as mallet if necessary - another bit of mission creep)
• Has a decent-sized quillon, aka finger guard (so I don't cut myself)
• Handle seems to have a good grip surface (so I don't slip and cut myself)

What I'm not crazy about  is: 

• Serrated part of blade, but that's toward the bottom, so it's tolerable
• I'd prefer the quillon (finger guard) to be on both sides and to be longer 

 A New Mexico knife maker, Jay Fisher, presents a thorough study on knife anatomy here.  


Sheath

The knife comes with a nylon sheath that I'm happy with. Until I watched the Continental Divide movie, I didn't know I could have a knife in a sheath in a draw-down position versus a draw-up-and-out position, and I think this nylon sheath is constructed in a way that I can do that. (One of the hikers, toward the end of the movie, pulls out his short but lethal knife. [That sounds a little titillating, doesn't it?].)

My plan is to have it on my right-side, front backpack strap, set up so I can pull it down and out.

Will I feel more secure when I've got the knife with me? Don't know yet, but even if not, it's still something I should have with me.